Chapter 53 - Chapter 51: A Story of Idiots Coming in a Tank
The day after we suppressed the apartment, we were busy cleaning up the corpses in each room and recovering supplies. Although I say cleaning up, we just gathered the corpses into one room and sealed it strictly. If we threw them outside poorly, we might be noticed by the infected, but on the other hand, since we're staying for a while, we can't keep leaving them as they are.
For that reason, we threw all the corpses into one room and sealed the doors and windows with duct tape so that the stench of rot in the room wouldn't leak outside. I've long since become accustomed to the stench of rot, but for the sake of mental health, I want to avoid smelling it as much as possible.
Perhaps because all the corpses had been left throughout the summer, decomposition had progressed quite a bit. Among them, some had almost become skeletons, but fortunately, the number was small. Excluding those of the infected we defeated, there were only about five corpses in the apartment.
Among them, the only one seen to have committed suicide was that of the hanging man found in Room 408. All the other corpses seemed to have been eaten to death while trying to escape, and even excluding the fact that they were decomposing, they were severely damaged.
I don't know how long we will stay in this apartment, but it might not be that long. However, having heard the story that the government, which was said to have relocated to the Tohoku region, might have vanished, we were at a loss as to where to head next.
However, as long as we live, food and water are necessary, and medical supplies are also needed in preparation for injury or illness. We, who left almost all of those in Osawa Village, are in a sense fragile existences. We have weapons, but bullets cannot fill a stomach.
Fortunately, just by going around the apartment rooms, we were able to obtain food that would likely last for a week. Now that the electricity has stopped, naturally the refrigerators aren't working, and all the fresh foods have rotted. For that reason, what remained were only canned goods, dried foods, and retort pouch foods, but we can't complain now.
But since we don't know how long we will stay in the apartment, a week's worth of food is by no means enough. If this vicinity is safe, we might stay here for a long time from now on, and in preparation for when that happens, we need to secure even more food. For that reason, Naomi-san and I had to go outside on the third day and perform the procurement of food.
I had already told everyone that I found two human shadows on the roof of the water storage tank on the night we came to this town. Because of the Osawa Village incident, we are now unable to trust survivors other than ourselves.
Even if there were other survivors, the possibility that they would actively attack would probably be small. If they fight flashily, the infected will gather, and above all, it's easier to survive by cooperating than by killing each other. However, it's this kind of situation; the possibility that someone will attack aiming for supplies or weapons cannot be completely eliminated. Or, as in the events at Osawa Village, it's also conceivable that people with a screw loose are actively going around killing survivors.
I want to think such a thing is impossible, but as someone who was almost made into food for the infected, I needed to prepare for all situations. For the time being, avoiding contact with other survivors had become an implicit understanding among us.
Since the human shadows that seemed to be survivors were seen on the south side of the town, the procurement of food was limited to the north side of the apartment. There's a possibility they moved after that, but if we say that, we can't take a single step out of the room. Besides, we have guns here; we'll probably be able to repel them even if attacked.
Food might be obtainable even by going around general households, but it lacks efficiency. So we decided to go around shops like supermarkets and convenience stores from the start. The town is relatively clean, and almost no traces of looting are seen. Maybe the supermarkets and convenience stores are also safe. If a large amount of food remains in such shops, we can stay here for a long time from now on and create a safe base. If the shops had been looted, then we'll just go around houses one by one.
Naomi-san, readying an over-under shotgun, stood in front and proceeded through the town where no one was. I, carrying a crossbow and an empty backpack, also followed after her. The rifle has been handed to Yui, who remains in the apartment. In a town with many buildings, the range of a shotgun will be sufficient, and in the first place, since our policy is to avoid engagement with the infected as much as possible, we will almost never fire guns.
I am also armed with a handgun just in case, but it's doubtful whether it will hit. It will be quite difficult to bring down an infected running at full speed in one shot. In the first place, compared to other guns, handguns have weak power, short range, and low accuracy. They are truly weapons for self-defense that can only be used at close range.
Relying on a map found in one of the apartment rooms, we head toward the nearest supermarket. Apparently, the population in this area was small, and the number of supermarkets and convenience stores is small compared to other towns. Though, the fact that the population is small means there are also few infected. I'm grateful for that point alone.
"...There's no one, is there?"
Forget infected, not even small animals or anything moving could be seen. At most, a few crows were lined up on the power lines, and there were no figures of survivors or infected. I had confirmed the figures of several infected on the south side of the apartment with binoculars, but are there almost none on the north side?
"No infected either. It's something to be grateful for for us right now, though."
"I wonder how long we can stay in this town; if possible, I'd like to avoid moving anymore."
"Doesn't that depend on the amount of supplies that can be gathered?"
With that conversation as the last, we continued walking in silence again. If there were infected nearby, they might notice us by our voices, and above all, I'm not in the mood to have a fun chat right now. Having to be vigilant of the surroundings is one reason for such a mood, but the biggest reason might be that the incident in Osawa Village is still dragging on.
Since escaping Osawa Village, the air surrounding the four of us has changed. Compared to before, conversations have decreased, and we don't become cheerful. Well, in this kind of situation, there might be few people who can become cheerful, but even so, we used to try to act cheerful on purpose so as not to let our moods sink.
What is making our moods dark is, as expected, the incident in Osawa Village where we were attacked by the same humans. Until that time, we thought that if living humans joined forces, we could somehow survive. However, we realized that not all survivors are people who can be trusted, and that depending on the time and situation, living humans are more terrifying existences.
The hope that the government remains in the Tohoku region was also crushed by Yamato. His words might not be the truth, but it also cannot be asserted that they are 100 percent lies. Maybe there is a safe land protected by the JSDF or police in the Tohoku region, or maybe it has turned into a land of death where only infected squirm. Now that the information infrastructure has collapsed, there is no way to confirm, but is it okay to keep proceeding east like this? The fact was that such a doubt was growing among us.
That's why the amount of supplies obtainable in this town might become one marker for our future actions. If a lot of food can be obtained, we will probably interrupt our movement and spend some time here. Whether that's a week, a month, or until we die, that is not yet known.
Proceeding north for a while, there is a shopping district leading to the station. Apparently, there is one supermarket in that shopping district. There are also fishmongers and butchers, but since the products they handle are fresh foods, no harvest can be expected, and we decided to head straight for the supermarket without detouring.
However, on the way there, we would witness something surprising.
"This is... quite something."
While walking on the wide road of the station-front shopping district, a large object enthroned right in the middle of the road ahead came into view. That thing, which for a moment looked like nothing but scrap, was a single tank painted in green and brown camouflage.
"It's the JSDF's; it's not an American M1."
The tank was abandoned right in the middle of the wide road with the front of the hull facing the east side where the station was. Just in case, we observe the state of the tank from the shadows of passenger cars abandoned on the left and right of the road. If the ones riding the tank were JSDF members, there would be nothing more encouraging than this, but Yamato, who ruled Osawa Village, was a police officer. There was a police officer who tried to kill evacuees for the sake of his daughter; I don't know if JSDF members are also people who can be trusted. If the ones riding the tank are dangerous people, we won't stand a chance. A tank probably won't even be scratched by rifle bullets, and if the cannon fires, we'll be blown to smithereens.
But no matter how long we wait, there is no sign of the tank starting to move. No engine sound can be heard, and no human figures are seen around the tank.
"Could it be that that was abandoned?"
"I don't know. But it's certain that there are no people."
For now, we decided to probe the state of the tank. Weapons and ammunition might be found, and maybe it can be moved. If that happens, unlike fragile passenger cars, it will become an ironclad means of transportation for us.
As expected, there was no one around the tank. Apparently, it has been a long time since this tank was abandoned on the road of the shopping district; the armor plates on the surface are covered in mud and dust.
And it wasn't just dirt that was staining the surface of the tank. Brown lumps were caked on the front of the hull, and white bone-like things were dotted and caught in the metal tracks. It seems to have run over many infected by the time it came to this town.
"I'll check the situation inside for a bit, so wait outside."
As soon as she said that, Naomi-san handed the shotgun to me, and instead drew a revolver and climbed the hull of the tank. Putting her feet on the road wheels lined up on the side of the hull and lifting her body all at once, she put her feet on the protrusions here and there on the round turret that looked like an overturned bowl and went up onto the turret all at once. Then, opening the heavy-looking hatch and thrusting her upper body into the turret, she said, "There's no one."
"I thought so; there's no one in the driver's seat either."
In the meantime, I went around to the front of the hull and lifted the hatch located under the main gun, which stretched out like an elephant's trunk, with all my might. The tank hatch, which bounces back bullets, was made of thick metal, and I noticed that the narrow space like a coffin beneath it was the driver's seat when I saw the steering wheel, seat, and several protruding levers and pedals.
"Is there anything?"
"Nothing. Not a heavy machine gun, nor a coaxial machine gun, not even a single handgun remains."
Looking, a gun mount that seemed to be for mounting a machine gun was provided between the two hatches on top of the turret. However, the machine gun that should originally be there is nowhere to be found, as Naomi-san said.
"Not a single shell remained. This tank probably fought somewhere and then continued acting alone all the way here. Then, it broke down here. Since all the removable weapons were gone, the crew might have taken them."
"Broken down? Didn't they repair it?"
"Tanks are things that break easily. After all, it's like forcibly moving a lump of iron with a huge engine, and in order to keep running in perfect condition, a maintenance unit must also accompany. But as far as I can see, there are no allies around, and although it managed to run this far, a failure that the crew alone couldn't fix finally occurred, and it was abandoned."
Speaking of tanks, they have an image of being invincible land combat weapons in movies and such, so it was surprising that they break easily.
"The fuel consumption is also about 500 meters per liter. Well, since Japanese tanks apparently use diesel engines, they can refuel if there's light oil at a gas station. The reason this tank was able to come this far might be because it refueled here and there."
500 meters per liter; it's a vehicle far removed from words like energy-saving or low fuel consumption. However, as far as I saw on the map, there is no JSDF garrison near here, and as Naomi-san says, this tank probably came from far away. Since there are no traces of combat or corpses around, it seems it wasn't made unmanned by the crew being killed by infected, but was truly abandoned because it broke down.
The JSDF had originally been deployed for public security in preparation for the virus landing, but the infection spread with a momentum far exceeding expectations. Battles between JSDF members and infected were unfolded in various places, but unfortunately, there were too many of them. Since the infected have tough bodies, they will continue moving for a while even if shot unless their heads are taken out in one shot, and they increase their numbers by biting humans. Whether a doctor or a JSDF member, if they are bitten, they become an infected.
If these were the slow zombies that appear in movies, the situation might have shown a different development. However, the infected, who have superhuman physical ability and run to attack humans, spread to various places in the blink of an eye. Defense lines in various places were breached by countless infected surging in, and many deaths occurred. I also witnessed the whole story when I was trying to evacuate by helicopter.
In various countries including Japan, all kinds of weapons were brought out to annihilate the infected, and battles involving general citizens were unfolded. Use of chemical weapons that should be prohibited by treaty, indiscriminate bombing of urban areas, sinking of vessels suspected of having infected on board... Even so, the spread of infection could not be stopped. The infection spread at a speed faster than plans could be made.
This tank might also have been fighting against infected somewhere. No matter how much they are infected, they don't have enough power to destroy a tank's armor plates with bare hands. Equipped with a main gun that could easily blow away a single house and wrapped in hard armor, a tank is no different from a moving fortress against infected. And unlike fragile passenger cars, even if surrounded by infected, it can run over them and proceed.
"Even though we found a tank, it's a shame..."
"What, do you want to ride it? Even I can't repair a tank, you know?"
"No, it's not like that... The engine sound would echo and the infected would gather, and besides, I don't know how to drive it."
"The way to move it is apparently like a bulldozer. Well, the fact that the engine sound is noisy is a drawback. If it stops moving while surrounded by infected, a tank is no different from an iron coffin."
No matter how safe the inside of the car is, one cannot go outside in a state of being besieged by infected. If the infected were to surround the tank the whole time, one would just meet death inside the car without being able to escape. That's why the crew of this tank might have abandoned the tank without repairing it even if it broke down, taking as many weapons as they had.
"Even so, it's really a shame. Since tanks are equipped with rifles for self-defense and such, it would have been good if even those could be obtained. To think not even a single bullet was left."
"In this world, things don't go that well so easily."
Gazing at the tank that probably won't move anymore one last time, we then began walking again toward the supermarket that was our destination. If we had a tank, we would surely have become invincible. Against infected, and against humans.